Halling on LifeDeath and Young Ancestors
by bluetoads
Summary: He says they are descendants of the ancestors, not ancestors. I have tried to tell him that descendants means they are still ancestors....


Halling on Life/Death and Young Ancestors

Here's a story I did for sgaflashfic amnesty 2006 I somehow didn't post here but did at my journal.

ferretkitty beta'd this one.

Title: Halling on Life/Death and Young Ancestors (First Nights Challenge/ Amnesty 2006)

Author: Bluetoads

Characters: Halling, Jinto, Sheppard, Beckett, Weir etc (no pairings)

Spoilers: Season one, Rising

Word count: 1,273

Warning: Don't think there are any. I don't own then etc. Written just for fun.

Summary: He says they are descendants of the ancestors, not ancestors. I have tried to tell him that descendants means they are still ancestors...

Halling on life/death and young ancestors (First Nights Challenge)

By Bluetoads

I do not know what to do or think any more. Just yesterday evening I was looking for my son Jinto in the woods outside our camp on Athos and now tonight I am in the Ancestors very home with the rest of my people. I should be dead. I know this, my people know this but I am alive and so is my head woman Teyla. We both know we should be dead and it is very unnerving tonight to know we are not. It is even more unnerving to find out that the strangers who came to us from the ring of the Ancestors came from the lost city of Atlantis, the home of the Ancestors. That an actual ancestor saved me, saved my son and my people…. I have no words for that.

Jinto tells me that Major Sheppard is the one who brought him and our people here to the ancestors' home. That he even saved him from a wraith. That the man saved my son indebts me to him. That the man willingly followed the Wraith to their ship and came for us…strangers to him...I would be dead, Teyla would be dead, the other Lanteens with me would be dead….We should be dead, but are not because off this man. This man who only knew us a few short hours would come for us….I am doubly indebted to him.

How do you pay back someone for something like that? He did not know us but he fought with my people when our camp was attacked. He and the other Lanteens could have left us; they could have hidden in the woods, waited it out. They have weapons I have never seen before, very deadly and powerful weapons. They did not have to fight with us. Others would have hid and left us to our fate. Not the Major. He fought and when it was over he brought all my people and my son back here. He did not have to do this. Others would not have. They would have left us, maybe stolen from us. Not the Major. Jinto tells me that Dr. Weir, the Lanteen leader, did not like it when the Major brought us here but that he talked her into taking us in.

I could not believe my eyes when I was led to the Lanteens ship when we were rescued. No one has seen one of those ships in thousands of years. There are drawings of them and stories of course. I knew what it was as soon as I saw it. It was an ancestors flying ship. I also know only an ancestor can work it. The ship was a big enough shock, and then to find out the man who rescued us was an ancestor himself! I almost passed out when I made the connections. Real ancestors! Back, they are back! Our prayers are answered after so many years! Then when the ship went through the ring of the ancestors and came here, I have never seen anything as beautiful as the Gate Room as the Lanteens calls it. Then to see my son waiting for me! I was so overjoyed. The Major had told me Jinto was well and waiting for me but I did not really believe him. We have been without hope for so long now.

Now I watch my son sleep, safe and alive in this strange and wonderful city. I think ghosts of the ancestor are still here though. There are strange shadows here that play tricks on the eye and the halls echo oddly at times. I feel as if I am being watched by unseen beings or maybe being. The Lanteens are strange people. They do not worship the Ancestors or believe in ghosts. They have taken us in, fought for us, given us food and shelter. Many others in the galaxy would never do so much for so little in return. We have nothing to give them in payment. Dr Weir and Major Sheppard say we don't owe them anything as it was the right thing to do. The Major says we can help them by helping them learn about this galaxy and being their friends. That is another thing about these odd people. They are not from here but another galaxy! That is why they did not know of the Wraith. I thought their manner of dress and their weapons were strange but now I know how very strange.

Another thing I do not understand about these Lateens is the way they treat the Major. He is an ancestor but they treat him as just any other person. He doesn't act like I would have thought an ancestor would act. Oh, he is brave, strong and honorable like and ancestor should be, but he acts like any other person. Like there is nothing special or wonderful about himself. He says he is not an ancestor but he flies the ancestor's ships and the stairs and walls light up for him as he passes. The strange machines glow to life when he nears and the city speaks to him. I have seen some of the machines glow for some of the others but it is different somehow. The doctor says he is not an ancestor either but he makes things glow. He says they are descendants of the ancestors, not ancestors. I have tried to tell him that descendants means they are still ancestors but he gets very flustered and starts to talk in a strange language. The Major just laughs and shakes his head and asks if we need anything. They both remind me of my Jinto at times. Perhaps that is it; perhaps they are young ancestors who do not know better yet. That would explain why they didn't know of the Wraith—their parents were shielding them.

The city is a sacred site for my people. I am overjoyed to be here and to see it, but at the same time I am afraid of the wrath of the ancestors for being here. I am conflicted on what to do. The young ancestors here with us say there is nothing to fear. I want to believe Major Sheppard and Doctor Beckett but I am not sure. I am hoping it is like when Jinto would bring friends home without telling me. I am hoping the ancestors will not punish us because their children brought someone home without asking them first. If we are careful not to break or damage anything maybe they will honor us and let my people stay here and be blessed by them. When the Major smiles like that I can not see any parent being able to resist him.

I am afraid for my people and myself, for our future. I am also hopeful that things are finally changing. Charan says we the people of Athos have been blessed by the ancestors. After all, did they not send to us two of their precious children and lead us to this most sacred site? Before he went to sleep, Jinto was telling me that the children were fighting over who gets to play Major Sheppard when they play Hide from the Wraith. This is a sign of something new. That game has not changed in hundreds of years. Maybe Charan is right. All I know for sure is that I owe Major Sheppard my life and the life of my son. He can say he is not a young ancestor but I know differently and so do my people.


End file.
